This section provides background information related to the present disclosure which is not necessarily prior art.
Telescopic sight assemblies, commonly referred to by those skilled in the art as scopes, are commonly used with projectile launching devices, e.g. firearms, to facilitate efficient and accurate aiming of the projectile launching device. Typical telescopic sight assemblies allow a user to more clearly see an intended target by magnifying the target and collecting light to brighten the target's appearance. Moreover, typical telescopic sight assemblies include a reticle, i.e. a network of fine lines or markings that can be seen by a user when looking through the telescopic sight assembly, to assist a user is accurately predicting a projectile impact location upon an intended target. A reticle typically comprises a static image viewable within the field-of-view of the telescopic sight assembly. The two main types of reticle are etched glass reticles and wire reticles. While the fine crosshair is probably the most commonly used reticle image, many other reticle images are known and used by those skilled in the art. Some reticle images are designed to assist a user, e.g. a rifle shooter, in accurately engaging a target by providing features to assist the user in: accurately determining a distance (also referred to as “range”) to the target; estimating and compensating for the amount of projectile drop which occurs over certain distances; and to estimate and compensate for the windage due to cross-winds.
Although conventional reticles do provide features to assist a user in accurately engaging a target, the reticle images are static, e.g. they do not adjust within the field-of-view of the telescopic sight. Therefore, in many situations a user is required to “hold off” a part of the reticle image, e.g. a crosshair, from the desired projectile impact location in estimation that the projectile will actually engage the desired impact location. With current forms of technology, however, a reticle image can be generated by a computer and superimposed within the field-of-view of the telescopic sight assembly such that a calculated projectile impact location appears precisely at that location on the target within the field-of-view allowing the user to align the calculated projectile impact location with the desired projectile impact location. That is, the calculated projectile impact location may be displayed within the field of view, e.g. as a cross-hair, not at a static location but rather it may appear dynamically within the field-of-view.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 8,336,776 B2 to Horvath et al., dated Dec. 25, 2012, and fully incorporated by reference herein, discloses an aiming system for use with a weapon which may include a display in communication with a processor that displays a corrected aiming point.
Calculating a projectile impact location requires the consideration of many factors including but not limited to: projectile muzzle velocity; ballistic coefficient of the projectile; height of the telescopic sight assembly over the axis of the bore of the projectile launching device; cross-wind velocity; and distance to the target. Generally, there are three methods used in the art to determine the distance to the target: (1) the process of “milling” a target; (2) using an infrared/laser range finding device; (3) adjusting a distance setting via a bezel on a telescopic sight assembly. The first two of these methods are described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 8,281,995 B2 to Bay, dated Oct. 9, 2012, and fully incorporated by reference herein, which discloses a system for improving the accuracy of target “milling” and also for calculating ballistic solutions, some of which incorporate Data Observed from Previous Engagements to increase the accuracy of the calculated ballistic solutions. The third method is described in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,026 B1 to Uppiano et al., dated Jan. 21, 2003, and fully incorporated by reference herein, which discloses a rifle scope with side indicia with a distance setting bezel configured so that a non-aiming eye of the user can view the distance setting while the scope is in the aimed position.
The process of milling a target can be cumbersome and can also provide inaccurate results if the user inaccurately estimates the height of the object used for milling or if the user inaccurately measures the angle during the milling process. Additionally, the use of infrared laser ranging devices may compromise the position of a user which is obviously undesirable in combat situations. Moreover, even if the user relies on the distance setting of the scope to determine the range of the target, the user will still be required to “hold off” the reticle from the desired impact location which exacerbates the problem of user error. Therefore, there is a need for systems and methods of estimating the distance to the target without risking compromising the user's position and for calculating a projectile impact location based on the estimated distance to the target.
An additional problem with current sight assemblies is that gathering Data Observed from Previous Engagements can require a user to approach a target to collect the data or to estimate the data from afar. Thus, there is an additional need for systems and methods of collecting Data Observed from Previous Engagements quickly and accurately from the location from which a projectile was launched.